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Topic: Heaton Street, Hockley (Read 2441 times)

Heaton Street - I was born in Heaton St in 1949 and lived there for 10 years before my family were re-homed to the Lyndhurst Estate, Erdington in 1959. Major changes to road layout/classification have taken place in Hockley since my time there, largely brought about as a result of the construction of the Hockley Flyover. Heaton St (few minutes distant from the edge of the Jewellery Quarter via Lodge Rd, Icknield St (past Key Hill Cemetery) to the bottom of Pitsford St) was accessed from Hockley Brook via a short distance along Whitmore St and then left into Heaton St. which (then) terminated at its southern end at the junction with Lodge Road, the well known shopping area known as The Flat. Peg.

Notable Landmarks: Rabone's, the famous maker of quality tools and measuring equipment was based on the corner of Heaton St and Whitmore St. moving from the Hockley Brook end: St Simon's Mission was on the eastern side of the road adjoining Icknield St School, whose rear entrance was on Heaton St (Probably some connection between the mission and the school but I've not checked).Heaton St was very much a road of 2 halves: eastern side many privately owned houses of good quality and on the western side council houses with back to backs at the rear, sometimes as many as 8 dwellings sharing two toilets some distance away, usually with a communal brew (wash) house. There were a number of small shops in the street and an off-license, the majority being converted from terraced houses, the front room becoming the trading area.At the Hockley Brook end on Whitmore St was the old tram depot which became the main bus depot for the area, I remember on weekdays at about 4.00pm each evening the buses would leave the depot and test their brakes on Heaton St on their way to their route, the buses would roar up the road and screetch to a halt 5 or so times as they proceeded along Heaton St. before leaving the road at the junction with Lodge Rd.Peg.

House plan - Can a house have 3 stories at the front and 2 at the rear? - Yes it can if it was on Heaton St, the plan shows a typical council house that fronted Heaton Street's western side, this style of house was relatively luxurious with its own outside toilet - in the back yard, bathrooms unheard of.People had large families in the early 1900's - my mother was the youngest of 11 children and was brought up in the style of house shown. Thankfully there was usually a large age difference between the youngest and the oldest child in the brood, so the older children had often moved out before the next child appeared, even so my grandmother was a baby machine for probably 15 years. - Ah! The good old days!Peg.

Heaton St Jeweller - When my grandfather lost his job as a jeweller at aged 60 c1928 he had little option than to start self-employment, he set-up as a self-employed jeweller working from the front room of his house in Heaton St. I was about 4 when he died but I still have vague memories of accompanying my mother to purchase gold bullion for him from, I guess, Johnson Matthey in the Jewellery Quarter.By all accounts he was quite an imposing man at over 6ft tall he towered over my grandmother at barely 5ft. He was a keen and successful fisherman and won many trophies, his club was based at The Bull on The Flat. Peg.

Gardens - few people had cultivated their small area of outside space but for those that had the cart horses' that passed provided a free bounty - fertiliser, and there was a lot of competition for it!Peg.

peg what number did you live at ??...i had rellies in heaton st but way before your time..think it was a back to back house but i would have to check my records

lyn

Hi Lyn, No 28, which was about half way along the street (not on the posh side), on the same side as Rabone's, opposite the rear vehicle entrance to Icknield St School.I think there were 6 back-to-backs behind us (I'll use "your" map in a minute to confirm), so their addresses would have been 1 back of 28 Heaton St and so on.Peg.P.S. Just checked - there were 8(Used mapsite: http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=18&lat=52.4959&lon=-1.9081&layers=176&b=6 - sheet: OS 25inch, 1892-1914)

Garden - My dad was one of the few who cultivated their backyard, we had a spectacular display of Dahlias every year, one observer suggested the blooms grew so well they were reaching for the sun, because the yard was so confined. The tubers were lifted each Autumn and hung up in the dark in the cellar. Fortunately there was still room for my go-cart activity - more about that later.Peg.

Hi Peg & Lyn,my wife lived at No 45 Whitmore St for many years,her mother worked for many years at Daleys Sweet shop opposite Heaton St.When my F/Law died in 68 she married sometime late a man named Jim Day who was foreman for many years at Rabone/Chesterman in the Ruler Shop.They both retired to Tamworth in 75

hi edmund right now i am looking at a cracking photo of heaton st showing all saints mission hall 1961..its looking towards whitmore st...trouble is its so much faffing around to post a photo on here i dont post many if at all.. even when i get them down to the correct size they still wont post..maybe peg will remember dalys sweet shop